Arms
by theBeastly
Summary: There were too many tragic stories. This one is "happier" I guess. This is their journey to Camp Half Blood and above! Thalia/Luke and more characters to come!
1. I Never Thought

**Thalia Grace**

My eyes flutter open, catching the view of the sky and the lake. We had fallen asleep star gazing. My head was on Luke's chest and he had his left arm wrapped around me, resting his left hand on my shoulder. My left hand was resting by my head and Luke's right hand was on top of it.

I look up at him, careful not to disturb him. He stirs and I place my head back down on his chest. I close my eyes and pretend to sleep. A few moments go by.

"I know you're awake, Thalia." He says groggily. I don't move. "Thalia, I know you're awake." Again, I don't move. "Okay, Thalia, I know you're awake because people don't blush when they sleep." I'm pretty sure I turned even redder.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to use you as a pillow." I attempted moving, but Luke stopped me.

"It's fine."

"You look so peaceful when you're sleeping." I breathe out, placing my head back down on his chest.

"You do too," Luke says followed by a laugh. I was about to ask why, but he beat me. "You probably dream about me."

"Oh, shut up!" I snap. I try to get up again, but Luke pulls me back down. "Luke, let go!" I turn to look at him and he's sleeping. Well, fake sleeping. He was smiling as if he wasn't even trying to hide it.

"Ssh, I'm sleeping." He says quickly, but quietly. I sigh and lay back down.

...

I slip on my short, black swimming shorts and a dark blue tank top. Once I come out of the forest, I step into the water.

"Hey, Thalia," Luke calls.

"Yeah?" I say as I turn around. Luke was standing less than an inch away from me causing me to scream and fall back into the water. I open my eyes underwater and grab Luke's leg. Next thing I see is a great big splash. I come up and rest my hands behind my back. Luke comes up after a few seconds and sits just like me. I glare at him.

"Well, I was going to say 'gotcha' but then you pulled that little stunt right there." He splashed water at me. That started the splash war. I swim farther out into the lake and he follows. We stay there for a few minutes splashing at each other. I swim towards him bringing my arms up, trying to push him under, but he grabs both my wrists.

"Alright, alright, truce." Luke says. My toes barley hit the bottom of the lake, meaning, Luke was probably on his toes well-balanced because he was a couple inches taller than me.

"You don't have to hold me up. I can stand on my own."

"Well, okay," He says, letting go of my wrists without warning. I was about to go under, when Luke grabbed my wrists again.

"You could have warned me," I say in between coughs.

"Just admit you need my help sometimes."

"And if I don't?"

"Then, I'll-" He began to loosen his grip.

"No, no, no!" I yell. We both start laughing.

Once we eased up, there was a small current and I felt hands push my back. I was closer to Luke now, our stomachs touching. I was about to go into fighting mode, thinking there was a monster in there with us, but Luke still had my wrists. I looked down to find a water nymph puckering her lips. I kick her away angrily and look up. I catch Luke's eyes and he catches mine. We stay like that for a few seconds. Luke's face was getting closer and I can see his eyes start to shut. Subconsciously, my eyes start closing. _Thalia, it's about to happen_. We get close enough to where I can feel his breathe on my face.

_Hiccup_! We both pull back. Luke starts laughing when I get the second hiccup and I just blush.

_Hiccup_! "Thalia, you don't drink the water in here!" He teases and I just shoot him a glare. He shrugs his shoulders and looks away. "I didn't do anything."

I tried to keep a serious face, but it turned into a smile. I press my tongue to my cheek, forcing myself not to smile. "You are such a –_Hiccup_-loser."

"Hey, you came with me anyway." Luke says, rising into a high-pitched voice. "And you're here with me now." He smirks, knowing he got me. "There's a Big Mart about two miles out. Are you going to come this time?"

"Luke, you know I don't like stealing with you, but you also know I have to come this time." I think everyone would know why. I need new clothes and stuff. I mean, we are going to take a tent and other essentials.

"Well, yeah, but- never mind. You might want to dress warmer. I know it's nice enough to swim today, but the weather is dipping back down. I slip on my black hoodie and put a white-stud belt around my black shorts. Luke was combing his hair and I was putting mine back in my spiked bun. "Let's go find a place to camp out."

"I thought the lake was good." As I said that, I got this gross feeling in my throat.

"Yeah, but it might rain." I look up at the sky, which was now filling with stars and getting covered by clouds. "Come on, sky girl, you should have known that."

"Shut up." I say back. "Well, are we getting a spot closer to the Big Mart?"

"That's the plan."

We picked up our packs and started walking into the woods. I glance back at the lake and Luke looks at me sideways.

"I know. I'm going to miss it too."

...

"Goddammit, Luke, are you sure we haven't past the freaking thing?" I complain.

"We are walking pretty slowly, Thals," Then he turns confused and points his finger at me. "Don't use that language with me."

I swat his hand away and we start laughing. We made it to a clearing and the rain started. It wasn't hard, but it was steady. I walk into the middle of the clearing, listening to my steps across the forest ground. I got lost in my thoughts standing there, watching the rain fall. Wait, I think. Just as I realized I only heard my steps a scream rang out from behind me.

"Luke?" I yell spinning around. He wasn't there. "Luke?" I call again. I wait for a sound, but only hear the rain falling and the sound of my own breathing. I toss my backpack under a tree, so it would keep dry, and I pull out my mace. "Luke, this isn't funny."

Oh, no, no I am not falling for this crap Luke is trying to pull. Son of Hermes, of course he would want to prank someone, right? As I ask myself the question I hear a twig snap behind the tree Luke should've been standing in front of.

"Again," I sigh looking up at the sky. "You are such a loser."

"Hey," Luke says coming out from behind the tree followed by laughter. He walks towards me until we were toe to toe. I look up into his eyes and he looks back. "Scared you, didn't I?"

I purse my lips and narrow my eyes. "Not. One. Bit." I whisper.

"Ouch," He puts his hand to his heart as if I punched him. "That hurt deep."

I couldn't help but notice how close Luke and I were. I noticed the small features about him, especially the lines on the outside of his eyes that showed how much he smiles. Then, I noticed his face turn into something of confusion.

"Thalia, watch out!" He yells, pushing me down. The impact made me dizzy and the mace flew out of my hand. I couldn't hear anything other than the sound of metal on metal and a scream of pain.

"Luke," I breathe. He was about a foot away from me. He looks at me and nods, telling me that he's fine. I look at what he's holding. There was a huge gash in the back of his leg. "Luke." I breathe again.

Then, the sky gets darker. A silhouette of something large passed over the clearing. Then the sound of four heavy legs fills my ears as it lands behind me. Luke's eyes widen. I slightly turn my head and find my mace at least ten feet away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the monster. It lets out a low growl. Then I shift my eyes toward the mace again.

Get it away from Luke, I thought. I look over at him and by the look in his eye, he knows what I'm about to do.

He slightly nods his head with pleading eyes.

_Sorry, Luke, not this time_. I get up and make a dash for the mace.


	2. That You'd be the One

"Thalia, what are you doing?" Luke yells. The monster lunges towards me.

"Shut up, Luke," I snap as I dive out of the way, scooping up the mace. "Do you want it to attack you?"

"Thals, look out!" I turn towards the monster as its paws push me down from the shoulders. The breath gets knocked out of me as I hit the ground. I gasp for air and look up at the monster. It looked like an oversized dog with a slimy tail and a torn up face. It lets out another low growl. I try to move, but it puts more weight on my shoulders. I gasp in pain and reach for my spear. Next thing I know, it lurched back with a whimper.

_I didn't even stab it though_. Then I realized Luke's sword in the side of its throat. I snap my head over in his direction. He smiles and shrugs his shoulders.

"Good throw, huh?" He says innocently.

"I could've handled it," I smirk, getting up. As I pick up my spear, the monster slowly staggers towards me. I take one quick step to the right to set it off. It lunges again, but right before it hits me, I stick out my spear and it jams right into it. Letting out a high pitch howl, it disintegrates into dust. I let out a long breathe. I hadn't realized how long I've been holding it.

I run over to Luke and examine the cut. It stopped bleeding.

"Not as bad as I thought." I breathe.

"Looks like someone cares." Luke mocks. In response, I look him in the eye and jam the alcohol pad onto his leg.

"First-Aid Kit comes in handy, huh?" I smile. His face turns into something of shock and he breathes in sharply.

"Gods, you're a jerk." He breathes out as I wrap it up. I start to laugh, but it turns into a coughing fit. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He sits up and scoots in closer to me.

"No, I'm fine. You lay down." He watches me as I lay out the sleeping bag and put our backpacks on both ends. "Prop your foot up here and my backpack is your pillow.

"What about you? Your sleeping bag caught on fire."

"Whose fault is that?" I say. He smiles and leans forward to put his hand on my forehead.

"You're hot," I didn't want to admit I was getting sick because he wouldn't think about himself.

"Well, thanks." I smile big to change the subject. He stammers.

"You know what I mean." He slips into the sleeping bag. "Come here, there's room for another." I blush, but it was too dark to see.

"Who's going to keep watch-?"

"I will. I'm crippled, not dead." He smiles, holding out his arms. I open my mouth to ask something, but he answers it knowing what I'm going to say. "No, I won't get sick, now come here!" I crawl over to the sleeping bag and slide in, realizing how heavy my eyes feel. "I'm sort of using your 'pillow' so here." He slides an arm under my head.

"Two down," I whisper. "Let's hope for no monsters"

**Luke Castellan **

We really need to work on this 'taking shifts' thing. Well, I need to. I fell asleep when I was supposed to keep watch. I am really putting her in danger.

I sit up and rub my eyes. It was really bright out and it was still warm, but as we get farther north and as the months go on… it will be hell for us. No, hell is warm. I laugh at the thought.

"You really should get something warmer." I say to Thalia as she walks out from behind a tree.

"It's still hot." She looks down at her black shorts. "And I'm wearing a black hoodie. Black gets the sun."

"Oh, right," I say sarcastically. I slide out of the sleeping bag and take a look at the bandage. It was soaked with blood where the cut was.

"Holy crap," Thalia gulps. It looked like she was going to turn green. She bent down and started to unwrap it. "It's not as deep as we thought." I didn't answer because I wasn't paying attention to it at all. For some reason, I was focused on her. The way she was focused on what she was doing. She cleaned up well, other than the spot of mud under her eye. I realized under the spot, her cheek was turning red. "Will you stop?"

"Stop what?" I ask, snapping out of whatever I was in.

"Stop staring at me like that." I would go on with something a little… on the flirting side, but I decided to go with my heart.

"Stop staring at you like this?" I cross my eyes and stick out my tongue. She shakes her head and wraps the clean bandage tighter. I yelp in pain. Then we both start laughing. She wipes her eyes, knocking the dirt away from her eye.

"You're stupid, you know?"

"I know." I smile.

"Thanks to that monster, we have to stay here a whole day and night." She rolls her eyes and stands up.

"I promise we'll raid the store tonight." I say.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Thalia's voice fades as she disappears into the trees. _She would be the one I would get "stuck" with. She would be the one._


	3. To Hold My Heart

There we were, sitting up on a hill overlooking that big store. We watch as the lights go out and as the last worker locks up.

"So, are you ready?" I look over at Thalia. She didn't answer. My arm brushes hers and she jumps, eyes still locked on the building. "Is someone scared?"

"Does it look like I'm scared?" She yells, shoving me. Next thing I know, my world is tumbling. It felt like forever until I stopped. I groan and lift my head up. I was at the bottom of the hill. Then, I heard footsteps getting closer and I roll my eyes with a smile.

"Was that necessary?" I ask. She walks by without a word, swaying her hips. I get up and follow her to the door. "Was that necessary?" She looks up at me.

"Yes-" She says.

"No," I laugh, as I start playing around with the door. A few minutes pass. "I hate these motion sensing doors."

"Did you ever think that people may not care about actually locking every door?" I start to say 'no', but I realized she probably said that for a reason. I look over and she's standing there with the door wide open. "That's why I need you." I smile as I walk in.

**Thalia Grace**

It was dark when we walked in.

"Luke,"

"Yeah, I know. Just follow me." He says.

"How can I follow you if it's dark?" I ask. I felt him grab my hand and I jump. I knew he was smiling right now. Why did you have to jump, Grace?

"I think I found the switch!" He lets go.

BAM! There was a loud noise of Luke crashing into something. I didn't know where I was because I was slamming into things too.

Then, the lights came on, row by row. I didn't realize how big it was. It had _everything._

Luke started laughing. "Well, I found it." He was still holding onto my hand. I started to move away, but there were cardboard boxes everywhere. "Hey, easy," He grabs onto my waist. My heart skips a beat. Why am I reacting like this?

"I know what I'm doing!" I snap. He let's go and I end up falling into the boxes. He tries not to laugh as I sit up and blow my hair out of my face.

"Ok, enough fooling around, let's go." He winked.

"I'm going my way, you're going yours. Meet you at the door, loser." I walk away.

"Haha, love ya too." I couldn't help but smile.

…

I wait by the cash registers for Luke. Gods, was he taking forever. I looked at the bags I was holding. I was happy I got a bunch of new clothes and stuff. I needed a new tooth brush.

"Hey, let's go." Luke says, holding a bunch of bags like me.

"Sure, I liked 'shopping' for clothes." Luke laughs and we begin walking towards the door.

"Hey, wait! Look at that." He points with his foot. I look down to the lowest shelf near us. "Let's get it."

"Luke, are you kidding me? You want to get a stuffed giraffe?" He bends down and grabs it.

"For you," Luke smiles as he hands it to me. I roll my eyes and take it.

"What do you want to name it?"

"How about NoName?" Luke asks.

"How original," I roll my eyes again. "Why?"

"I don't want to stand here trying to think of a new name." He makes a valid point. We walk out the building and start heading up the hill. I kept a good distance between me and Luke. He looked over at me and gave me a funny look. "What's up?"

"I don't want you push me down the hill." I sigh.

"I wouldn't do that." He walks closer to me, but I walk farther. "Oh, come on." He starts chasing me. Before we know it, we make it to the sleeping bag. We toss our stuff onto the sleeping bag and plop down on the ground.

"Another day gone by…" I yawn. "So, who's taking first watch?"

"You just yawned, so, how about me?" Without answering I lie down on the sleeping bag. It was a warmish night, so. "No, no, no. You were getting sick. Get in the sleeping bag."

"But it's so-"

"I don't care." He laughs. I mock him and angrily crawl into the sleeping bag. "There you go." He pats my head.

I swat his hand away. "I'm not a dog!" I couldn't help but let out a small giggle. I hoped he didn't notice, but of course he did as for he started to laugh too.

"Oh, don't forget this." He sticks NoName right next to me and I shake my head.

"You are still a loser." I say 'seriously' and close my eyes. Luke knows me. He won't get mad because he knows what I am like.

"And you're a loser's best friend," He says through a big smile. At the word 'best friend' it felt like he held my heart and gave it a squeeze. My chest felt tight. The words _best _and _friend _together were foreign to me… but it felt right.

I have a best friend.


End file.
